Wake-up call blows by the government

Published 8:00 pm, Thursday, October 6, 2005

The failure of government at the local, state and federal levels in the most immediate hours following Katrina have been well documented. We all bore witness to the lack of planning, coordination efforts and swift response to Americans who were suffering. We watched and listened as those closest to the devastation screamed for help and still none arrived. And in the days that followed we saw FEMA director Mike Brown resign as members of the U.S. Congress prepare to hold hearings to find out what went wrong.

Plenty of money has been pledged to help the Gulf Coast recovery. But those efforts don't seem to be going much smoother than the initial disaster response.

First the government was going to give hurricane victims debit cards for immediate needs. Then they weren't. The government spent millions to lease cruise ships to serve as shelter for hurricane victims  and they're mostly empty. And now we have the contracts.

The government awarded millions in contracts  millions  without any type of competitive bidding process. So, on Thursday the acting FEMA chief had to put out that fire. He said all of those contracts will be rebid  as they should be.

Now Playing:

Americans understand billions will be spent to rebuild areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. But they also believe that money must be spent wisely. A recent poll shows more than half surveyed no longer are confident money will be well-spent. And so far the government hasn't given them much reason to believe it will be.

Yes, it's going to be costly. Yes, we need to move swiftly. But we also need to forge ahead with purpose, with vision, with a commitment to spend taxpayer dollars wisely. It's time for the government to revoke use of the snooze button and wake up. The American people seem to think so, too.